1. In Medias Res

In Medias Res: "in the middle of things".



"My brothers are hiding something..."


We begin in the middle of things.


"...and they don't want me to know anything about it."



= = = Soundtrack: TroubleMaker - Troublemaker = = =

 

"What? Another one's down? Didn't you say that Hyung will be able to handle those hooligans?! Aish, you...! Arasso. I'll be there in five minutes."

I breathed in as quietly as possible as I heard the snap of a cellphone being closed. A sigh of slight irritation followed a few moments afterwards, and growing wary at what might happen next, I tiptoed as silently and quickly as possible down the halls of the house.

But I only managed just about 5 steps before a male voice called me.

"Shirin-ah? Where are you going?"

I froze in mid-air upon hearing his voice, and scared to death at how serious it sounded, I carefully turned around and faced him.

"I was just going to my room, Seunghyun Oppa. I saw you here before I had the chance to open my door. But it sounded like you were talking with someone, and I didn't want to disturb you, so..." I blabbed on, mentally slapping myself as I realized that I just made it obvious to him that I was caught red-handed.

I was guilty of eavesdropping.

"You haven't been listening on other people's phone conversations, have you?" He asked me in a tone that said 'I know you've been snooping around, missy.' with a small smirk on his face. Feeling even more nervous, I just swallowed the lump in my throat and shook my head.

 "Very well, then. Go to your room and do your business. I'll be leaving for now because my office assistant has called me, urgent meeting." He added, making his way to the stairs and going down. I just nodded before grabbing the doorknob, not of my room door, but of my other brother's.

I let out a sigh of relief as I sneakily opened the door, seeing the figure of my second brother, Song Chanho, sprawled on his bed. He then rolled to lie on his stomach, eyes intently scanning a familiar bundle of paper. I tried to make my way to him without a sound. But even if my footsteps were almost inaudible, he looked at my direction faster than you can say "Hi".

 "Don't you even know how to knock?" He said in a slightly irritated voice, stealthily hiding the bundle of paper he was holding by swiftly sliding it under the pillow that cushions his head. That hadn't gone past me. The bundle, I believe, was the same one I saw Seunghyun Oppa holding while he was in the home office three days ago, which he hid as well when I tried to look.

"Well, I'm sorry. I just missed you. You're like Seunghyun Oppa. You haven't been home a lot these past few days, too..." I replied sadly, feigning the emotion. I'm pretty sure he can't resist it when I become like this.

And I was right, for he held out his hand and pulled me so that I was on the bed with him. He made me lie on my back and he was beside me, lying on his side. He ran his hands down my face then closed his eyes.

"Well, Oppa's sorry, too. I have been really busy." He replied in a voice even more lonely than mine, to which I felt true sadness for.

"I'll make it up to you, Dongsaeng-ah, I promise." Chanho Oppa whispered to me, but right on cue, his cellphone rang. He almost jumped out of the bed just to take the thing, which was playing its caller ringtone.

 "Yobosaeyo? How's the West territory near the border? I heard from Seunghyun Hyung earlier tonight. It's under attack, I've been told." He began to say in a hushed tone. But I still heard it perfectly clear.

 "Yeah. I see. So, Seunghyun Hyung is gonna go there now, huh? But aren't they gonna face the next-to-leader ranked person? Did he bring anyone with him?" He asked worriedly, and I noticed lines forming on his features.

This is something serious.

I stood up the bed myself to ask Chanho Oppa what wrong there was, but he wouldn't even look at me. A scowl began lining his pretty mouth, and my insides churned at the expression.

Something's definitely wrong.

Once the call ended, I then approached him and asked what was wrong. But he didn't answer it. He avoided it instead.

"I'm gonna go somewhere, Shirin-ah. I don't think I'd be back until tomorrow. Something came up in the University. It's urgent. I really need to leave." He hurriedly told me before technically running to his walk-in closet and changing his clothes there.

When he came out, he was already wearing a roughly-styled attire. He just brushed off his jacket lightly before motioning to me that I should get out of his room already. I nodded in understanding as I walked with him out of his room. Once the click of the bedroom door was heard, he kissed my cheek lightly before saying goodbye.

"You sure you can handle being alone?" He asked me in a worried tone, to which I just nodded.

"I'm used to it, Oppa. Every week, there are at least two days wherein I experience being alone in the house. I still have homework to do anyways." I replied, pressing my lips into a firm line. Taking it as his cue to leave, Chanho Oppa began his trip down the stairs towards the front door. I followed him, locking the door and house gate at his departure.

I continued watching my brother as he left. He walked for about ten steps before a black sports car suddenly came into view. Oppa climbed into it, and I breathed deeply as I saw the car speed off into the night.

The moment I turned around and looked at the almost-empty house I was in, everything returned to me.

Suspicion.

Confusion.

Lies.

= = =

"Yah! What the hell are you doing to my brother?!" I heard a familiar voice shout out to 8 young men with a teenage girl attached to one. The seven others were taking turns in either punching or holding up a bruised and beaten young man of about 13 years.

"Well, this guy has made moves on my girl here. We're just reminding the bastard that he shouldn't get with a taken woman." The one with a girl beside him exclaimed, signalling that the beatings be continued. The one who previously shouted, who I identified as Choi Jonghyun, also known as Changjo, a schoolmate of mine, rushed to the group with fists outstretched.

But he was no match for the men as he soon fell to the ground. He was beaten black and blue just like his dongsaeng. I tried not to gasp and run from the wall I was hiding in just to rush towards him. I knew that the group Changjo-yah was going against is a well known gang in school, which could be classified into a group that could rival a mafia Clan once they graduate. He couldn't overpower them so easily.

But his next sentence froze me to my spot immediately.

"I swear, I'll be like the Song Brothers Chanho and Seunghyun one day, and I'll take you down!"



What?



Are they...?


No... I have heard only good things about my brothers.

Seunghyun Oppa had spotless records in his grades, and he's graduated the top of his batch in college, in fact the youngest ever to do so. He's currently handling some family business that I heard my parents passed down to him.

Chanho Oppa, on the other hand, is going to graduate third in his whole batch this year. Following the footsteps of Seunghyun Oppa, he's setting another record in his University's history as the student with the most courses taken and finished simutaneously, all with no grades lower than 90.

I believe that I'll be following them soon, as I'd be expected to be graduating next year with the highest set of grades ever in SoShuKyeong University of Science and Technology for a female, beating the records of the five highest-ranking male achievers of the said university for the year.

It's impossible for them to be involved in so much, like gangs and stuff, especially if they're currently involved a lot in their studies.

But, knowing that these multitasker brothers of mine can manage a lot even if their plates are already full...

... Can it be?

They have been constantly telling me that their late night trips are with relation to work or university. Yet, the truth is that they've been going to their gangs to round up enemies.

They've been lying to me all along.

And that I can't take.

= = =

 Huffing and puffing, I slammed the door of Chanho Oppa's bedroom closed and rushed towards his bed. I hurriedly moved the pillow that was under his head earlier, seeing the familiar bundle of paper that he ever-so-swiftly tried to hide earlier. I managed to breathe deeply one more time before sitting on the edge of Oppa's bed and looking at the topmost page.

Report for Seoul District 2 Territory

I couldn't help but gasp as I began to scan the paper, and its suceeding pages. Many groups had already been getting at each other in the second district of the city alone. Gang wars had already been going on since anyone here could remember. And most importantly...

... another one is going on tonight.

I immediately took the information in and secured it in my head before returning the bundle of paper carefully to where it was before. A determined look began to cross my features as I went out of Chanho Oppa's room and into mine, where I changed clothes. Then, I went to Seunghyun Oppa's room and looked around.

There I saw a case which looks scarily close to a gun case. I immediately went to it and opened it, my eyes meeting a small silver gun. I took it and cocked it like how I saw people in movies do it. I heard the click of the gun, and everything came rushing into me.

My brothers have been hiding something.

But they couldn't hide it from me any longer.

= = = = = = = =

PLEASE DON'T SKIP THIS PART.

This is where I'll be posting stuff that I would like you guys to know. So, please please PLEASE don't ignore this.

First of all, thanks for reading the first chap. It might get better in about two to three more chapters, so please stick around for it.

Second, I would like to thank SomethingAsian, Kallen_Langely, lilxninjaa, and KyLiE_24 for being my FIRST FOUR SUBSCRIBERS! =] I have sent personal 'thank you' notes to each of you, but I'd also like to recognize you publicly. I hope the first chapter didn't bore you or anything. :]

Lastly, I'm planning on posting TWO MORE CHAPTERS for tonight. So, I hope everybody will SUBSCRIBE and COMMENT on the story. Thank you very much again for reading, and please stay tuned for the next chapters!

Important Note:

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